Circle time tools

Anytime that you have a job to do, the tools you use to complete the task determines how well the job is done. Raising children is no exception. As a parent, when you have the necessary tools to be able to parent effectively, your children grow up to be balanced human beings.

Parenting tools are universal. The foundation of good parenting is a daily schedule. Children are creatures of habit. A daily schedule keeps their emotional highs and lows to a minimum. A child that is aware and can count on what is going to happen next on a daily basis becomes secure in his environment. When a child gets off schedule for special events, it is best to return to his/her normal routine as soon as possible.

Second, within the daily schedule there should be plenty of organized events for the child to learn new things and also to repeat and practice activities that he/she has already mastered.

Organize teaching tools in drawers

Children need adult interaction in short time spans of about 15-20 minutes many times a day and then longer periods of time when they learn to engage by themselves in activities. For example, when you've sat on the floor on many occasions next to your child with a big box of blocks and have built together a tall tower, a mall, a neighborhood, etc., you should be able to say to your child, "It's time to bring out the blocks. What do you want to build with the blocks right now? Try it by yourself." The child should be able to reference in his/her mind what kind of structure he/she wants to build and actually get excited about doing it without you.

The Makeovers Home Preschool Curriculum has a section on parenting tools that include a daily schedule, circle time for sitting down with your child to teach basic information like letters, colors, numbers, shapes, singing, counting, word recognition, weather, days of the week, months of the year. Also, talk to your child about introducing some of the things in the curriculum like field trips, artist of the month, country of the month, animal of the week, and reviewing the rules and manners of the house.

A person's parenting skills are as good as the tools they have to use. We made sure you have the best tools to teach your children.

Makovers Curriculum samples are viewable with Adobe Reader. If you need to download Adobe Reader, click the Get ADOBE READER button. The Adobe Reader download page will open in a new window.